PHILADELPHIA -- Back in August, the 76ers embraced the risk associated with trading for a player who has had a history of knee injuries. It's March, seven months later, and their stance on that has not changed.

Sixers president Rod Thorn said the team knows it may never get a return on the dollar amount it expended in trading for Andrew Bynum in the offseason. That the Sixers eventually could recoup some of that money through NBA injury insurance is no relief, however.

Especially when delving into who the Sixers cast off to get Bynum.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday before the Sixers hosted Miami, Thorn said it's still too soon to tell whether the move to acquire Bynum from the Los Angeles Lakers will have any down-the-road impact on the team, either.

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"We made a major, major deal in getting Bynum and he hasn't been able to play yet," Thorn said. "We gave up some good players in order to make that move. Him not being able to play has made it tough for us. We've had some other injuries, like a lot of other teams.

"If you put Bynum out with our guys healthy, I think we'll be a real good team. It just hasn't worked out so far."

Bynum said earlier this month that it's entirely possible he may never play for the Sixers. That was after Bynum, who had been improving, experienced swelling in his right knee after participating in a Feb. 22 practice.

That he's missed so much time this year "is a little bizarre, there's no doubt about it," Thorn said.

Thorn said there was no update on Bynum's rehab progress, and that surgery for the balky-kneed center remains an option.

Thorn said the Sixers could seek to get financial relief from the league to defray some of Bynum's $16.8 million salary. How much exactly?

"I don't want to say," Thorn said. Whatever money they receive in return will not impact their salary-cap figures.

"There is a league-wide insurance that he's under that gives you some relief along those lines," Thorn said. "It's the same league-wide program that every player's under. Unless you have a pre-existing condition -- and he didn't, so he's on the same one as everybody else."

To get Bynum, the Sixers had to part ways with four players on whom the team spent first-round picks. One of them is All-Star Andre Iguodala. Another is Nik Vucevic, who's having a head-turning sophomore season for the Orlando Magic.

"Nik is a very good player, a very skilled player with great hands," Thorn said. "You could tell he had a very good future ahead of him."

In case you've been living in a cave since Feb. 3, the Heat have won a few in a row. Nineteen to be exact. It's not like Sixers coach Doug Collins had to tell his guys about that or anything.

"Oh, they know that," Collins said. "I don't know if they know how many, but they know they're rolling."

"As far as pressure, it's more on them than us," the Sixers' Thaddeus Young said, "because of the big commotion about the streak, making it to 20 and not letting it end at 19.

"I'm just playing basketball."

Nick Young returned from a left ankle sprain, playing for the first time since Feb. 28. He had missed seven in a row. Collins said he was hesitant to start Young, unwilling to mess with a group "that's played well." Damien Wilkins remained in the starting five.